Spring Fever in the Summer

In the two weeks since my last post, I have completed both the second and third drafts of Book 7 and deemed it done. I honestly thought it would take me months to slog through my storm of notes but I guess this book has just been marinating for so long at this point that I just know what it's supposed to be and not be so the revisions were pretty manageable. This is great news because I was certainly worried about having time to revise with a newborn in the house--I thought it would end up being put off for a couple months and then I'd have to reacquaint myself with the whole text again when I started working on subsequent drafts. But no worries now--smooth sailin'. I have made my mock-up with notes for our awesome graphics guy so all that's left is the cover. I even have a summary blurb prepared but I'm going to let it sit and soak in on me a little longer before I share it with you guys--as with the book itself, I just want everything to be perfect for all of you; you deserve it after the long wait to get here. I'm like, "If it's not perfect, then their waiting has been for nothing." The thing to remember though is that we are dangerously close now. Dangerously close.

So now I'm down to the last few weeks of this whole gestation thing and the nesting mode is in full swing. I spent the whole morning yesterday trying to work on my new *ahem* project...but I was so distracted with my to-do list for the nursery that I finally had to put it away, close the computer and just go do baby stuff. We have been very fortunate to receive lots of hand-me-down clothes and a few new things as well. So one of the big projects yesterday was laundry. It sounds easier than it is because they are all different sizes and since I'm such a freak about keeping things organized I had to separate each size into its own bag. So washing was kind of a mess because I had to mix the sizes up again and reorganize after they were clean and folded. Long day but I finished it all. My writer's brain is whispering to me, "Does anyone care about this? Edit it out--edit it out!" But this is a blog, not a book--if someone doesn't care to read every paragraph, they can skip around!

So the nursery is coming together and we're still putting the apartment back together after the big weekend of shooting we just had. My husband and some of our friends are doing a web series for Youtube, called WebDM. It's all about Dungeons & Dragons role playing stuff, mostly from the perspective of the person who DM's the game, meaning the person who runs the campaign. They are pretty short episodes (4-8 min) and it's just two guys talking about the game, very laid back. If you know anything about D&D, you would probably enjoy the show; if you know nothing about the game but want to learn more about it you would probably also enjoy the show. I've only played the game once myself but had a lot of fun and I can see why it's such a popular pastime. If you are a fantasy nerd, like we are over here, you should check it out. Anyway, so they just shot a bunch of stuff for the show in our little apartment and had to move everything around to create a set. I'm working on putting things back together, reorganizing our bookshelves etc., but the set looked great and I can't wait to see how the new episodes turn out!

So, in light of the fact that I'm down to less than five weeks before baby, and in an effort to decrease the increasing pain and swelling from being on my feet too long in a day, I am going to attempt to spend some downtime blogging more. It doesn't take the mental toll that working on a new book does so it's easier to accomplish despite distractions and it allows me to have a little rest time in the day. I'm not an internetor--I rarely get on Facebook and I hate pouring hours of my time into watching/reading crap on the internet. I have certain blogs and certain web series I check regularly but other than those I just can't abide the world wide web. So working on my blog is a good in-between because it let's me be productive and keeps me away from stressful work stuff (both writing-related and nesting-related) when I'm trying to relax. Seriously, I did so much yesterday that last night and this morning I have been so sore! Anybody out there that has been pregnant, I know you understand what I'm talking about when I say the round ligament pain can get excruciating--especially if you overdo it!! Anyway, all that to say I'm going to try and post some stuff, totally unrelated to anything, just thoughts and music/book talk, stuff like that. So stay tuned!

xxErin